The Power of One Piece
by DragonClaw827
Summary: Naruto—injured after Pain's defeat has been rewarded. . . banishment. Everyone is in the hospital and Tsunade's in a coma. Who is there to save Naruto from being exiled? No one. So guess what? Kyuubi takes over, somehow accidentally warping Naruto and himself to a whirlpool, and get stuck in another dimension. Whaaat!
1. The Beginning

**Author: Heh, um . . . This is my first Fanfic and . . . er . . . I hope it's good enough for you guys to read. Oh! And uh . . .**

**Luffy: She doesn't own One Piece... or Naruto/Naruto Shippuden!**

**Author: Of course I don't! The only thing I own is—**

**Naruto: Yeah, no one cares!**

**Author: Humph! Meanies.**

* * *

The sound of ocean waves reached the ears of anyone in Foosha Village, which many smiled at the sound.

One day when a teenager boy reached the age of seventeen, a crowd formed at the harbor of Foosha Village. There were a mixture of cheering, hissing, and murmurs—but the boy didn't seem to mind.

He stood atop a small boat, waving to the small town before yelling,"Bye, guys! I'm going to become the Pirate King!"

The cheering and hissing intensified, making the murmurs to quiet down.

And with that, the boy sailed off for his journey. . .

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

"This. . . _boy_ is forever banished!"

Many cheers erupted from the crowd of cruel villagers who wanted to either execute or exile an innocent teenager. Said teenager was distraught that he couldn't live a normal Shinobi life. . . a life where he could be loved by and love the village.

"Why would you do this. . ? Huh?! I defeated Pain and this. . . is how—" the teenager was cut off by a fat, ugly shopkeeper.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE THE REASON THAT THE _KYUUBI_ ALMOST ENDED THE VILLAGE AGAIN! YOU'RE THE REASON THAT THE WHOLE VILLAGE IS IN DANGER—ALL BECAUSE YOU'RE _HERE! _You deserve this..."

"No way. . . You're taking advantage of Baa-chan's coma and my injuries!" the teenager cried out.

"Damn right we are! Now get out. . . BEFORE WE MAKE YOU!"

_Everyone's in the hospital. . . No one can help me. . . I'm all alone, _the teen thought.

Turning back once more, his eyes were blood-red, glowing as his bangs shadowed his eyes. His whisker-like birthmarks deepened in color, then his nails grew sharper than a chakra blade. He then let out KI (Killing Intent) enforced with the Kyuubi's chakra and then said:

_**"You will all regret hurting my kit emotionally because now. . . you will all die."**_

* * *

_**Cliffhanger no Jutsu!**_

**Author: Ooh. . . guys, I left ya a "sorta" cliffy!**

**Naruto: Yeah, suuuure. . . Why'd you leave Kurama (The Kyuubi if you didn't know. . . The villagers **_**obviously **_**wouldn't know—ppppphhht!) in charge of my mind?**

**Kurama: Maaaaaybe 'cause I'm more awesome than you?**

**Naruto: Hey, no one asked you! Well, Author-**

**Author: 'caaaaauuussseee?**

**Kurama and Naruto: Yeeeeeessss?**

**Author: I don't know.**

**Kurama and Naruto: *anime-style fall***


	2. So What Happened?

**Author...ess: Um... yeah. There was supposed to be a line after the Author's Note the last chapter, but it didn't work... so now it's retarded..I don't knoooow! I'll use something else, then.**

**So, uh...**

**Naruto and Luffy: AS ALWAYS, SHE DOESN'T OWN ANYTHING... HERE.**

**Authoress: You know, I was gonna say that anyways.**

**Naruto and Luffy: We know.**

**Authoress: That's creepy when you say that in unison... Anyway, I want to tell y'all something! I changed this". . ." to "..."**

**Yeah. You should know why. Yay, right? : )**

* * *

Kyuubi stood amongst many bloody dead bodies, smirking as he was satisfied with the horrified faces of the dead civilians.

As he turned to the gate, the chakra he let out started to rise up to the sky, circling around, dragging the clouds with the flow.

"What the hell..?" Kyuubi mumbled as he stared at the sky.

The chakra storm started growing in size, pulling trees out of the ground and random scraps of trash as if it was a twister. Then the 'twister' started kicking off the ground, becoming a wormhole of some sort.

As it became stronger, it started to drag in Kyuubi, who was stunned and blinking many times.

"Okaaay... Because of my stupidity, I opened a wormhole... that _possibly_ leads to another dimension," he said to himself,"And now I can't escape 'cause I didn't do anything. Damn."

* * *

_Inside the teenager's mind_

"What the _hell _did you just freakin' do, Kurama?!" the teenager exclaimed.

"_**Like I said, I might've just created a wormhole..."**_

"HOW?!"

_**"How the hell should I know, Naruto? I didn't know this would happen..." **_the now named Kurama sighed nonchalantly.

The newly identified teenager, Naruto, grumbled and sighed. "Well, what are we gonna do then, Kurama?"

_**"We'll just have to wait because I don't know what to do... In aaaaall my years of living, I've never experienced this," **_Kurama answered.

"Oh well... At least let me take over, then."

_**"Fine by me."**_

Thus, Naruto then took over, blinking as he was... shot into the sky, then quickly descending...

"SHIIIIIII—"

* * *

"Huh... Is that a whirlpool? Cool! Wait... I saw something shoot out of it with mysterious red aura floating around! Even cooler!"

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII—Argh!"

So Naruto found himself on a raft with his face hurting very much—and wet because the impact send salt water flying everywhere.

"Damn it, Kurama. Where the hell is this?!"

_**'Like I said, we are apparently in another dimension,' **_Kurama responded inside Naruto's mind.

"Hey! Are you an alien?!"

"Huh? No..." Naruto responded, confused.

"Oh, well... I'm just gonna hide in one of the barrels 'cause there's a whirlpool and I can't survive in the sea." the stranger responded.

"A _whirlpool_?! Where in the wo—no, _dimensions_ did you send me, Kurama?!

_"If you're wondering, this is the East Blue," _said the stranger, his voice muffled once inside the unusually large barrel.

"...Never heard of it. Anyway, can I go inside one of your barrels? I see no other place where I can take cover, so..." trailed off Naruto.

_"Sure thing! I don't see why not," _chirped the stranger.

"Thanks... By the way, what's your name?" inquired Naruto.

_"My name's Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet ya!"_

* * *

**Authoress: Yaaaaay! Hey, did you see what I did there, guys? With the **_**muffled voices?**_** Hm? Hm...?**

**Naruto: Yeah, you don't have to question us so much...**

**Luffy: How come **_**I **_**had to be stuck in a barrel?**

**Naruto: You weren't the only one. I **_**did, **_**but Miss Authoress here didn't write it.**

**Authoress: 'M too laaaaazy... I think.**


	3. It Was Like This

**Authoress: Heh, heh... Hey, guys. I did some editing on the other chapters and I got really frustrated at Fanfiction because it wouldn't change it! But I finally got it to work yesterday! Yaaaay!**

**Naruto: Whoa, are you like, a certain frog I know from some place? 'Cause he loves saying "Yaaaaay!"**

**Luffy: I'm hungry.**

**Authoress: Good for you. IDON'TOWNONEPIECEORNARUTOSHIPPUDEN... ORNARUTO!**

**Naruto and Luffy: She said that she doesn't own One Piece or Naruto shippuden... or Naruto.**

**Authoress: Darn it, guys! I only said it fast so you guys wouldn't say it!**

**Naruto: Oh? Is that so...?**

**Luffy: Heh, heh... *Continues evil laugh***

**Authoress: (0.0) Oh, yeah... Guys, I'm gonna change some stuff from the original plot... But I already did that... But I mean with the One Piece plot!**

**Naruto and Luffy: Okaaay?**

* * *

"COBY! Who's the most beautiful woman in the seas?"

"Y-you a-are Alv-v-vida-sama!" replied the now-identified boy, Coby.

"Good... Now go to that ship and help the others steal the valuable items!" ordered the woman, looking smug.

B-But I'm not good at—"

"GOOOO, YOU BRAT!"

"A-AAAHHHHH!" screamed Coby who ran away before he was nearly squished under "Alvida-sama's" iron mace, which was covered in spikes.

So Coby quickly scurried toward the cruise ship, not wanting to meet the iron mace to the face. He then jumped off the pirate ship to join the raid with the rest of the crew. He landed rather loudly on the ship, the sound echoing because of the impact of his face smacking the wall.

By the time he couldn't see Alvida anymore, he spotted two large barrels, which were rolling along in kitchen.

"Huh. I wonder if the crew would like something to drink..." he mumbled, staring at the two barrels settled ever so innocently in the corner of the room after having stopped rolling. Just as Coby was about to lift the barrels upright, he heard voices and footsteps approaching the kitchen.

A group of the Alvida Pirates came shuffling in before they spotted Coby standing there. Just standing. So they assumed he was concealing himself, away from all of the commotion.

"Hey Coby! Are you sitting out of the raiding again?!" one of them shouted.

"N-No, I'm n-not. I-I was j-just tr-tryiing to get th-these barrels b-back t-to the sh-ship," he stuttered.

"Hm... Hey, are you guys thirsty?" one questioned.

"Yeah! How about we lighten your load, Coby?" inquired a beefy-looking man, cracking his knuckles.

"B-but Th-these are f-for—"

They all ignored him and let the beefy-looking man get ready to "open" the barrels. However...

"THAT WAS A GREAT NAAAAP!" a mystery person yelled out, stretching once out of one of the unusually large barrels.

"Argh!" cried the beefy-looking man.

"What the hell?!" yelled the others.

"Oi, oi. Luffy, you're gonna hurt someone like—okay, well, you already punched someone like that." sighed a blonde teen who came out of one of the two barrels.

"Who are you?!" growled one of the Alvida Pirates.

"Nevermind that! Attack him! And him!" screamed another. He took his sword out of its sheathe and ran towards the stranger.

_'Oh, no! He's gonna die for sure!' _thought Coby, closing his eyes, ready to hear screams of pain.

But he heard nothing of that sort and opened his eyes in confusion.

"Wha-What are you?! Monster!"

_'Whaaa...?'_

Instead, he saw a broken blade and cowering pirates. Against a teenager who looked confused. And another.

"Luffy, don't make them pee. You're gonna make them stink up the place. Wherever this is..." grumbled the blonde.

"But I did nothing! They attacked _me! _Naruto! This is unfair!" the newly named "Luffy" replied.

"Just don't do anything to make them pee," replied "Naruto."

"Whatever," Luffy turned to Coby and the frightened pirates and said,"Hi! My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I ate the... I-don't-know-what-the-name-of-the-Devil-Fruit!"

"A-a D-devil Fruit?!" yelped the Alvida Pirates. Then they turned to Naruto and asked,"W-who are _you?"_

Naruto sighed. "I thought Luffy already screamed it out loud. Do I reaaaally have to say it?" whined Naruto.

"J-just say it or else!" at this time, Coby lost track of the conversation.

"W-wait! Why were you in the barrels? I don't understand that..." questioned Coby.

"Questions, questions, questions. So many questions!" chanted Luffy.

Naruto piped up and said,"You see, it was like this.."

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_After Naruto recieved permission to go into a barrel __(Yes, permission to get into a barrel)__, he walked toward the one he deemed to be safest.._

_"Wow, a whirlpool. Never thought I'd be stuck in one soon." Naruto muttered._

**"But you are, Kit. Oh, and you better get in the barrel..." **_warned Kurama._

_And so he opened the barrel's top and crawled inside._

_"Ooh! We're reaaaally close to the whirlpool now!" said Luffy in a sing-song voice._

_"Oof! WHY ARE WHIRLPOOLS SO VIOLENT?!"_

* * *

"And that's about it!" Naruto exclaimed.

No one said anything except Luffy.

"Oh, man! I'm hungry!" noticed Luffy,"What's your name, Pink-hair?"

"I-I'm C-Coby!" Coby whimpered in fear.

"Okay, 'C-Coby!' Show me the way to food!" yelled Luffy.

* * *

**Authoress: Arghh... Sorry I didn't update, guys. I was like, busy and lazy. More lazy, though.**

**Luffy: I didn't get to eat! No fair!**

**Naruto: You'll have to wait 'til the next chapter, Luffy. Just wait.**

**Luffy: But I'm huuuuuungry!**

**Authoress: Fine. Fetch, Luffy, fetch! *Throws a pot of yummy meat, somehow***

**Naruto: He isn't a dog... *Watches Luffy run for the pot***

**Authoress: Oh, well. : /**


	4. Zoro: Enter!

**Authoress: Heh, heh... Sorry, guys. Ya know... for not updating.**

**Luffy: Mmh... That meat was good! Shishishi!**

**Naruto: Yeah, yeah. Enough with the excuses! Get on with the story!**

**Authoress: Sheesh. Anyway, one more thing. I don't own One Piece or Naruto... or any other... things that might be in here!**

**Luffy and Naruto: Aw, man! We forgot! It's all your fault for not updating! *Glares***

**Authoress: *Laughs nervously* Yeah, I'm going to be skipping a few scenes n' stuff to make this a little faster. Oh, and my sister wrote some parts. If you guys don't like BL, that wasn't written by me. However, I will take on the flames.**

* * *

And thus, Coby lead the duo to the way to the storage place when he was exploring the kitchen.

"Food, food, foody-foooood!" Luffy sang.

"Luffy, pipe down, will ya? You might attract attention!" warned Naruto.

"H-here we are!" stammered Coby nervously.

Luffy gasped. For a moment, Naruto thought that Coby lead them to a trap.

_No, he wouldn't do that. I'm a shinobi and I would know if he was lying or planning something suspicious. Besides, Luffy is probably startled by how much food there is in the storage. That's why he gasped._

"WOW! THERE'S SO MUCH FOOD!" Luffy yelped with joy as he looked around.

_Knew it, _thought Naruto triumphantly.

However, Coby was thinking something similar. He stayed silent, not knowing if he should warn Alvida about the mysterious duo.

_'B-but then I would be more of a pirate than a Marine! Uhhh... Not that I am one,' _Coby corrected himself.

Luffy was already jumping to each crate, chomping and munching, drooling and tasting. Naruto shook his head, amused. But then Naruto noticed something.

_Pink-hair seems troubled... Not a characteristic I would expect from a pirate, _thought Naruto.

"Yo, Pinky—" Naruto called out, however, interrupted.

"It's Coby!" corrected Coby, annoyed by the nickname.

'_U-uh, no! What if I made him mad?! He'll definitely b-beat me up—' _Coby's thoughts were halted as something hit his head.

"What the hell, Luffy?!"

"You guys should eat! Definitely you, Naruto!" Luffy chided.

Coby looked at the ground and saw two red apples rolling away from each other.

_'Apples?'_ thought Coby curiously.

"YOU SHOULD'VE WARNED US FIRST BEFORE YOU THREW THOSE DAMN APPLES!" raged Naruto, who was clearly p***ed off.

"But you look so skinny!" Luffy whined.

"That's a weak excuse! Look at yourself!" scoffed Naruto.

Coby stared at the both of them, head whipping right to left as the two strangers argued. Well, one of them gives weak excuses while the other snaps angrily. Coby decides to warn them of the danger of being loud when Alvida is near.

"Y-you guys shouldn't f-f-fight! W-what if A-A-Alv-v—" Coby shudders at the name, clearly scared just saying the name. He continues his warning, "—v-vid-da h-hears us?"

"Nah, he wouldn't hurt me. Uh, 'Alvida' is a guy, right?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

Coby gasped.

"Hey, what's your problem with this 'Alvida-guy', huh?" asked Luffy curiously, chewing on an apple core.

"Y-you guys d-don't know who A-Alvida is?! She's the most cruelest, ugliest, and scariest of this part of East Blue!" exclaimed Coby.

_**CRRRAAAAAASHHH!**_

"COOOOOOBY! JUST WHO'S THE MOST 'CRUELEST, UGLIEST, N' SCARIEST' IN THIS PART OF THE EAST BLUE?! I HOPE YOU'RE NOT TALKING 'BOUT ME! ESPECIALLY THE '_UGLIEST' _PAAAAAARRRT!" a voice seethed and growled. Smoke was kicking up and spreading.

"A-Al-l-vi-d-d-da-s-sam-ma!" Coby stammered. Luffy and Naruto were staring into the smoke and debris... until... they saw... a dwarf planet.

They broke into laughter.

"PPPHHHTTTTTT—FAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! THAT CAN'T SERIOUSLY BE THE SCARY N' CRUELEST N'—Well, yes, ugliest. Definitely the ugliest... FAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAAH!" Naruto roared with laughter.

"SH-SHISHISH-SHAHAHAHA-SHISHISHSIHI! A DWARF PLANET! HE WAS SO HEAVY THAT HE FELL THROUGH THE F-FLOOR!" Luffy choked and laughed.

"Y-you sh-shouldn't l—" Coby tried warning the duo but was cut off.

"COOOOOBY! ANSWER ME!" the voiced grew more angrier by the second.

"A-Alv-vid-da! U-uh... Y-you're th-the m-most—" Coby stammered.

_**"Kid. Just voice out your thoughts. If a... 'Marine' saw you praising this... dwarf planet-thing, you'd never be a marine then,"**_ a voice growled and persuaded.

"—ugliest and fattest hag ever!" roared Coby confidently.

Alvida stood in shock, then hissed, "You dare to insult me? Prepare to lose your head, COBY!"

Alvida swung her iron mace toward Coby, aiming to bash his skull through the wall. Coby shrieked and made a feeble attempt to duck, but then...

_**TWANG!**_

Coby looked up from crouching and saw Luffy blocking the hit.

"W-Waaah?" Coby gasped. However before Luffy could beat her to death, Naruto punched her multiple times but did not kill her. Naruto stopped. Avida lay unconscious on the floor. Luffy blinked. Coby didn't move.

"Whaaat? The dwarf planet was a woman?" asked Luffy confused. Then laughed, "Heh! More like… wo_MAN_! Shishishishi!"

"H-Hah... S-so s-strong..." muttered Coby as he stared at Luffy and Naruto.

"So, Coby..." Naruto spoke after a while. Coby yelped in reply.

"You seemed very troubled... Now I know why. You weren't trying to be a pirate... but rather they forced you." Naruto smirked. Luffy snickered.

"H-how did you know?" Coby gasped, embarrassed.

Naruto hummed, not replying properly.

"_Nyan~!"_ Nyan Cat sang happily, joining the 'musical'.

* * *

The three new friends were together on the deck, Alvida laying tied up on the floor behind them. The other pirates had jumped ship after seeing their defeated captain. Coby was steering the ship toward an island not far off.

"Hey, since we'll be keeping this ship—at least for a while—we should repaint the sails, shouldn't we?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, yes! I want to do it!" Luffy replied. He jumped up onto the mast and tore off the gaudy mark of the Alvida pirates. He fluttered down to the floor and yanked out a replacement sail from nowhere.

"Hey, where'd that sail come from?" Coby inquired.

"From nowhere, now shut up while I work," Luffy responded while pulling out a mass variety of paints—also from nowhere.

"Hey, I see that open crate behind you. Stop trying to act all mysterious," Naruto rebuked.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed as he opened the paint bottles. He then dipped a huge brush into the black paint and smeared a huge line onto the formerly blank sail. He continued to paint while the other two watched.

Luffy held up the now-completed sail. "So what do you think?" The sail was covered in blotched and blurry lines forming a shaky skull with a lopsided straw hat on its head. "Now it's a Jolly Roger!"

Naruto just stared for a moment, then he burst out laughing. Coby stood there dumbfounded. "I-it's a very n-nice attempt, Luffy-san," Coby finally managed to say.

"It's ridiculous!" Naruto kept laughing.

"Well, whatever! I'm the captain, so I get to choose what the sail looks like." Luffy climbed to the mast again and hung his new creation proudly.

"Hey, since when are you the captain?" Naruto asked.

"Since I called it."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Too late! You can be my first mate~"

_I heard Zoro is veeeeery strong person so he's gonna join my crew, too! He's around here somewhere on this island… _Luffy thought

"Hey, we're here!" Coby interrupted their argument by announcing that they hit land.

"Really? Awesome!" Luffy leapt from the deck with Alvida's bound form held securely by the rope.

"Ah, fine," Naruto relented and followed his friend off the ship.

"H-hey, wait for me!" Coby tied the ship to the dock and ran behind them, catching up slowly.

"So where is the Marine's base?" Naruto questioned Luffy.

Luffy ignored Naruto and instead focused his attention to a restaurant that emitted the smell of heavenly meat. "Let's go there!" He ran off, not bothering to see if the other two were following him.

"Hey! We still have to turn _this _thing in!" Naruto shouted at Luffy while waving the loose end of the rope.

Seeing that he wasn't listening, Naruto gave up. "Well, whatever. I'll do it on my own. That idiot will need to pay off the bills somehow, and I know that he doesn't have any money on him." With that said, Naruto walked further into the town, dragging Alvida—still knocked out—on the ground behind him, leaving a noticeable trail on the floor where she displaced the dirt.

Coby hesitated before choosing to follow Naruto, wanting to see the Marine base more than eating.

* * *

"More, please!" Luffy ate yet another bowl of food, the dishes piled up next to him as he finished them.

The lady came by with his order, putting it in the only place not taken up by the empty bowls, which was right in front of Luffy.

"Thanks!" he said before diving straight back into eating, small splatters of food splashing out as he messily ate.

The lady hurriedly fled from the voracious customer. The other patrons of the restaurant watched in awe as Luffy downed the bowl in less than twenty seconds.

"Saa~ that was good~" he sighed happily, patting his distended stomach.

"Hey, Luffy, you idiot, how do you plan to pay for all that?" It was Naruto, who had returned from the base.

"Oh hey, where were you?" Luffy asked as he stuffed his mouth.

"Nowhere, you know. Just turning in Alvida so that we could have some money. It's not like money is as important as you eating," Naruto replied sarcastically.

"Hm, really? Good for you. Well, I'm done. Hey, Naruto, you can pay now. We can go explore the island."

Naruto's right eye twitched. "Heheh. Yeah, _good for you_. Since you seem to think that eating really was more important than getting money, you can find a way to pay for yourself." Without waiting for Luffy to respond, Naruto left.

Realizing his mistake, Luffy panicked and yelled, "AH! WAIT, NARUTO! I CAN'T PAY ON MY OWN!"

* * *

"Tch, that annoying bastard." Naruto ignored Luffy's wails for him and walked with Coby trailing behind him.

"Shouldn't you help him?" Coby inquired worriedly.

"Nah, he can help himself."

"Hey, watch it!" There was an odd-looking guy stumbling to catch his footing in front of him. Naruto had bumped into him lightly, but it seemed that it was enough to make him trip. The man in question had blond hair weirdly curling—like a mushroom—at the side of his head, which was oddly shaped as well. A group of Marines stood in formation behind him.

"Hm? And who are you? And what's with your hair?"

"What do you mean? My hair is perfectly fine! See how it curls majestically." The pompous prick flicked his puffy hair proudly. "I am Helmeppo, the son of Axe-Hand Morgan! Bow before me and I won't have you killed."

Naruto stared at him blankly. "Right. I'm leaving now." He made to walk past him, but two of the Marines behind Helmeppo grabbed his arms.

_It would be so easy to blast these idiots with my Rasengan… Too bad—wait! Kurama, you made me bloodthirsty! Naruto roared in his mind._ He began to quake in comical rage.

Helmeppo saw him shaking and assumed that he was afraid. He then pompously scoffed, "This idiot is such a… a… an idiot!"

Naru stopped, then punched Helmeppo. Helmeppo stood in shock. "I don't care, Mr. Hippo. You can't hurt me, you damn spoiled bastard."

Rage filled Helmeppo's eyes. He raised his ugly hands and missed when he tried to slap him. He ignored the fact that he missed and said,"Oh, really? Let's see about that." He turned and stalked back toward the Marine base.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the retreating figure. "Mah, he has no power over me. Let's go, Coby."

* * *

They walked together, side by side, and passed a house in which a rather loud conversation was taking place.

"H-how could you bring yourself to write such embarrassing stuff?"

"Please stop! Please give those back! They belong to me!"

"Shut up! They're addressed to me, so they're mine! Really, if you wrote all these letters, why didn't you send them out?!"

"Because if I got in contact with you, I'd want to come straight home!"

"Then you should have thrown them away!"

"Your name is on them! I couldn't throw them away!"

"What the hell?!"

"Never mind that! Please just give them back! I'll throw them away now!"

"No! These belong to me!"

The yelling quieted down. Naruto and Coby looked at each other, shrugged, and continued walking with no set direction in mind.

* * *

The duo passed a tree where one and a half people lay under its branches-one and a half because one was part cat.

Kitty Ciel curled up against Sebastian's side, seeking warmth. Sebastian cooed at the cuteness, ruffling the hair between the two perked up kitty ears.

"Master, you're so cute~ I just want to play with you all day~"

Ciel purred happily.

Grell stood in the background. "What about me~"

Sebastian sent a full-fledged glare at him. "Go away. You are interrupting my master's rest."

Again, Naruto and Coby disregarded the oddness and continued on their way.

* * *

A little while later, they heard the clink of metal from overhead.

"Sofie, where is my cloak?" a male voice yelled out from the flying contraption of metal.

A female voice called back, "You left it draped on the back of the armchair."

"Ah! Found it. Thank you, Sofie!" The man replied.

The door to the odd contraption opened and a black haired man stepped out. Literally out. Like dropped from the flying castle into open air. He was okay, though, because he grew wings and easily caught himself.

* * *

Then Naruto and Coby passed yet another house with a strange conversation.

"Usagi-san, let's go there! Ritsu said we have to go back in an hour. We have time, right?" Misaki pleaded.

Usagi-san chuckled. "Sure, Misaki, but you have to do something for me."

Misaki blinked up at him. "What?"

Usagi-san slid an arm around his waist, pulling him against his side firmly. "When we go back to our room, we-"

"USAGI-SAN!"

They looked at each other with confusion then continued on unsurely.

* * *

"Maaah, all these people here are weird…" Naruto sighed as he put his arms on the back of his head for support.

"Y-you shou-shouldn't judge th-them, Naruto-san," Coby chided nervously as he was looking around.

"I'm just voicing out my opi—Hey! What's that little girl doing there?" Naruto shouted, pointing at a child climbing a ladder over… the walls… of the base of the Marines.

Coby gasped. Forgetting Naruto's rude remark, he then said worriedly, "That's dangerous! What if there are killer criminals there?"

But Naruto paid him no mind. He focused his eyes on the ladder… and he said, "Coby, I'm going over there."

"W-what?! E-Even if you're s-strong, th-that's da-dangerous!" exclaimed Coby.

Naruto smirked and chuckled, "What? It looks fun! So I'm gonna go over there and you're not gonna stop me!"

And with that, Naruto ran over to the ladder—because no one was a ninja here, he didn't run very fast—and climbed.

Coby pursed his lips and looked at the ladder hesitantly. He whimpered, "W-Wait, Naruto-san!"

* * *

"Get out of here! Or else I'll kill you…" a person threatened while he was tied to a wooden cross (yes, a cross) with splintered ropes.

"I don't think you can while you're tied up!" Luffy snickered.

The man tied up growled.

"By the way, are you Roronoa Zoro?" Luffy looked at him curiously.

"So what if I am?" the man—no, Zoro asked, glowering with malicious intent.

Luffy grinned broadly. "Join my crew!"

Silence.

"HAH?! No way! I'm not gonna be some pirate! I have a goal…" Zoro trailed off.

"...Well I reject," Luffy stated.

"What?! What does that mean?" Zoro scowled even more.

"It means I reject your rejection of joining my crew!" Luffy said as he had a serious face on.

"You're not serious," Zoro scoffed disbelievingly.

Luffy giggled, then paused. "Hey, why are you even here?"

Zoro opened his mouth to reply,"It's none of your business!"; however, he spotted a little girl—a very familiar little girl jumping down.

"Wha—get out of here!" Zoro growled. He was tired of the visitors. What? Will there be some teen with some animal feature? Or a pink-haired child? He scoffed at the thought.

"Oi~! Little girl! Wat'cha doin' there? Wha—Luffy?! Now what are you doing here?" a voice called out.

Zoro didn't even bother to look.

"W-wait! Naruto-san!" a more weaker voice yelled.

This was getting on Zoro's nerves. He looked up.

He twitched at the sight.

What the hell..? he thought.

There jumped a teen with blonde-hair and whisker marks on his cheeks. Another stumbled as he landed. With pink-hair.

But the little girl didn't pay them any mind. She ran up to Zoro and in her hands were—

"_What?!_ This isn't some _party!_" an irritatingly familiar, bratty voice shrieked from afar.

"_ …" _Naruto growled.

Yes, it was Mr. Hi—er… it was Helmeppo, who was with many Marine-guards, stomping across the grounds, eyes looking at each one of them, but landed on one person.

"_The idiot," _the mushroom-haired guy (Helmeppo) hissed.

They had a staring-contest… but was interrupted.

"Oi, how long are you guys going to stand there?" Luffy asked, picking his nose.

Naruto sighed. "God, Luffy. Haven't you heard of drama?"

As they were conversing, the little girl snuck her way to Zoro, who was starving for days. In her hands were wrapped up onigiri (rice-balls). She whispered, "Here, you must be starving!"

Zoro, who thought it looked amazingly tasty, was reluctant to open his mouth and chew.

"Is it good?" she asked quietly, eager to listen to what he thought.

"... It's… delicious…" he said, embarrassed to compliment someone.

"Really? Wow!" she celebrated loudly. Everyone turned their heads. Zoro noticed that they turned their heads and acted as nothing was wrong.

"... The brat was helping the criminal! Throw her out! No, actually… Throw all of them out!" screeched Helmeppo.

Naruto and Luffy scoffed. Then said in unison, "As if that can ever happen."

However, the little girl and Coby wasn't so sure. Coby stammered, "L-Let's get out of here, Luffy-san, Naruto-san... and you, too!"; looking at the little girl.

They stood still, not moving, signalling that they weren't going to retreat.

Zoro felt helpless, not able to do anything because he promised that he would not die while being held captive in exchange of the safety of the people—

_**Bam! Bam!**_

Shots were being fired and smoke was kicking up from the missed shots. He gritted his teeth and spat, "If only I had my swords…"

Unfortunately, Luffy and Naruto heard this. Luffy grinned and ignored the threats that Helmeppo and the Marines yelled.

"If I get your swords, you're gonna join my crew!" and with that, Luffy took off without Zoro even being able to say a word.

* * *

**Authoress: UUUUUURRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! I'm finally done! I hope you guys read all of it… and didn't quit the story 'cause of the BL…**

**Luffy: Whew! That was tiring!**

**Naruto: Yup, you're totally right…**

**Authoress: Anyway, I'm tired and I'm going to end here. (The first house scene was directly from Junjou Romantica. You know, the letter ones.)**

**Luffy and Naruto: Byyyyeee!**


	5. The Reveal of Luffy's Devil Fruit!

**Authoress: Argh, man! I'm just gonna say that my sister did the majority of this chapter. I did some parts—only some. 0_0**

**Luffy & Naruto: Wow, just wow.**

**Authoress: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING HERE EXCEPT THE PLOT.**

**Luffy: What?! No fair! Oh, where's my meat?!**

**Naruto: ...Idiot.**

***Sneeze***

**Authoress: Don't know why my sister wrote that.**

* * *

As Luffy ran towards the building, he quickly grabbed Helmeppo along the way.

"W-what are you doing? I demand you release me!" he screeched as he struggled to get out of Luffy's vice grip. However, his shouts were quickly distinguished as Mr. Hippo's face met the bright, hot, cruel ground. His muffles became pained as his "precious" face was sliding along, leaving a trail of displaced dirt.

"Naruto said I have no sense of direction, so I need you to guide me!" Luffy cheerfully said, still dragging Mr. Hippo across the ground without letting him up. By then, his face was scratched up from the constant friction against rocks and pebbles and was bleeding slightly, trailing a small line of red behind them.

"Alright, alright! Let me up! This hurts, you know!" Helmeppo screamed at him.

Luffy let go of Mr. Hippo and allowed him to stand, but he quickly snatched his arm and continued to run rapidly.

"Hey, stop! I can't run that fast! I'll fall again!" Helmeppo complained.

"Well then, what if I do _this_?" Luffy ran as fast as he could, which made Mr. Hippo's feet leave the ground again, but this time, instead of falling, he was picked up by the momentum and flew behind Luffy as he continued running. "Shishishi! This is so much faster! How fun!"

"STOP, STOP, STOP! I'm gonna get sick!"

* * *

They passed all of the guarding Marines with no trouble because of how fast they were moving and were able to enter the Marine compound easily. Helmeppo gave Luffy directions to his room where he put the swords when he was no longer motion-sick or in any danger of collapsing or throwing up. Luffy steadily followed his instructions and found the rather… pink room in a short amount of time. Leaning on the wall with the window were three swords.

"Mah~ Which ones are Zoro's? All of them? Meh, I'll just take them all. Then I can't be wrong!" Luffy declared. He snatched up the swords and turned to look at Helmeppo. "Thanks for coming with me, Mr. Hippo! I need to get back to Zoro now." He jumped out the window, running in the direction that was (probably) where Zoro was tied up.

"I didn't come by choice…" Helmeppo muttered. "Hey, did he call me a hippo? Did he insult me?"

* * *

It turned out that Luffy had been going the right way. He saw Zoro still bound to the post and Naruto defending them both effortlessly from the rather pitiful attacks from the Marines.

"Yo, what took so long?" Naruto asked as he turned a bullet from its original path.

"Well Mr. Hippo was taking so long to walk so I pulled him, but then he started whining and I stopped, then I just ran really quickly while holding him so we could go faster, but then he cried again so I slowed down a little, and then I found the kitchen and ate a little bit of meat—"

"Your definition of little or everyone else's?" Naruto inquired in a bland tone while deflecting a sword with a kunai.

"Mah, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Hm, I guess not. So, what are we going to do about this?"

"I give Zoro his swords back—Ah, which of them are yours, Zoro? You didn't tell me."

"They're all mine, those three," replied Zoro, looking at the white-hilted katana most affectionately.

"Right. So I give him his swords, we beat them up, then we get out of here!" Luffy ecstatically finished.

"You are an idiot, aren't you? You didn't plan anything at all! How do you expect us to escape unharmed if we recklessly go in to fight?" Naruto reprimanded.

"You got anything better?" Luffy challenged.

"Yup. See, I untie Zoro," he stabbed the knot holding the ropes bound tight, "I grab both of you," he grasped both of their wrists, "then I… RUN!" And Naruto took off running, the two other men scrambling to keep balance and run with him. It wasn't like the Marines would be able to keep up with them. They appeared to be physically weak—probably because this base was corrupt and didn't do anything they should have been doing, such as training. Standing to fight did not guarantee coming out unscathed, no matter how weak the opponents were. There was always a chance of a lucky shot, and with Zoro still physically deteriorated, there would be more openings for them than normal. They would have to be conscious of Zoro while defending themselves as well. With this reasoning, Naruto concluded that fleeing was the best option.

"HEY! Stop right there!" the Marines shouted at them. Naruto didn't stop running. He jumped smoothly over the brick wall, passing the little girl and Coby who were hiding behind a tree nearby, and sped off hurriedly from the Marine compound. The Marines hastened to follow.

Luffy laughed happily as they fled, sticking his tongue at them and pulling an eyelid down.

Zoro panted harshly, unused to the sudden exertion after starving for weeks. "What… is wrong… with you guys?" he wheezed. "That was… completely random!"

"Hm? Wrong with us? Nothing's wrong with us!" Luffy answered gleefully, still taunting the few Marines that were able to keep pace with them. Most of the Marines were unaccustomed to exercise as they only got their post through bribery or were incompetent newbies that were never trained properly, so they had no chance in catching up.

Zoro gasped sharply as his lungs were overtaxed, but he was not going to give up running. That would show weakness. He was not weak. He couldn't be weak. The strongest swordsman should be able to withstand this.

* * *

Ciel's kitty ears twitched. There was an ungodly amount of shouting getting louder as the source was coming closer.

Ciel was annoyed. He was having a good dream about running in a field of blood-stained flowers, chasing a mouse that he had half-mauled already and was preparing to kill, but all of the noise woke him up right as he was going to swipe his sharp claws down to slice the mouse open, preventing him from taking his kill, even if it was only a dream.

Ciel raised his head from Sebastian's lap, where he had been resting it and having his hair petted, and saw the chase between the three men and the small group of Marines, which was the cause of all the noise; they were repeatedly and uselessly ordering the three men to stop.

He growled. So they were the bastards that stole his kill from him. Ciel turned his eyes toward Sebastian's and hissed, "Kill them."

Sebastian stood and bowed. "Yes, my Lord." He disappeared in a flash.

* * *

A sudden scream of fright and pain drew attention to behind them. Naruto, Zoro, and Luffy stopped and looked back and saw a tall, black haired man standing there with silver knives between his fingers, poised to throw them and strike a man down like he had just moments before. A Marine was lying on the floor with a knife jabbed between his eyes, going straight to his brain, which killed him.

"My, my, you made my master angry, you know. You interrupted his afternoon nap. It seems that he was having such a good dream too. It's a pity that all of you have to die now. Fair retribution for disturbing my master." Though he expressed regret, it didn't appear that the man truly felt any since he had such a wide smile on his face. He turned and took notice of the three that stood there. "Ah, and who are you? Master Ciel didn't tell me to kill you—at least, not yet."

Luffy stepped up. "We are the Straw Hat Pirates! I'm the captain, Luffy. This is my brother, Naruto, and a new member, Zoro." Zoro didn't protest as he was still trying to catch his breath. "Who are you?"

"Fellow pirates, hm? I haven't heard of you, though. You must be new. I am Sebastian Michaelis of the Phantom Cats. You better keep running before my master says to kill you, too. He's in a grouchy mood right now." The man, Sebastian, continued to throw his knives, hitting his marks perfectly. In no time at all, the Marines were dead and pooling blood.

Turning back, he saw that the men had taken his advice and continued on. He smiled. He stalked over to the cooling corpses and withdrew the knives from the heads of the Marines. After wiping them clean and polishing them quickly, he stored them away for later use and returned to his master.

"Is my little master happier now?" Sebastian cooed.

Ciel crawled back onto Sebastian's lap and curled up, purring contentedly and drifting back to sleep.

Grell sulked far away at the sight. Then he grudgingly walked away.

* * *

The small crew of Straw Hat Pirates reached their boat. Zoro got on first, and Naruto was about to go as well, but Luffy questioned, "Hey, Naruto, what about the villagers? The Marines are terrorizing them. What are we going to do?"

"Nothing." Naruto jumped up and landed on the deck, nonchalantly looking back.

Luffy was shocked. "What? You can't be that mean to them. I know we didn't know them for that long, but they're still people! They have feelings. You can't just do nothing."

Naruto shook his head. "We will do nothing because the problem will fix itself. Did you see that weird red-haired guy?"

"Yeah… That was a guy? He had long hair and was clinging onto that man—eh, what was his name? Ah! Sebastian."

"Mm. He's a highly ranked Marine officer. It seems that he was called in after someone was finally able to report the corruption to the higher Marine office. He'll fix the problems, so we don't have to worry about them. Now get in here and stop wasting time."

"Ah, so they'll be okay. Alright~"

"I planned ahead. You really shouldn't doubt me, Luffy. You know, once we got Zoro out of the way, we could've gone back to beat them up, but that Sebastian guy already killed all of the stronger ones. There're no one else to fight except the weaker ones, but that's a waste of time. We may as well just keep going."

"What about Captain Morgan? Can we fight him?"

"Do you really want to?"

"Mm! I haven't fought in a while, and I want to test some of my powers. And he's a jerk."

"You guys are insane..." Zoro muttered. He was dead tired from his sprint from the center of the island to the outer edge, and he was feeling sleepy again. He nodded off before Naruto took one step out of the ship and was left behind as the two went back to the Marine base

All the weaklings were taken care of. Now it was time to beat down the boss.

* * *

Naruto and Luffy went back to the base, where they found Captain Morgan ranting and raving at the physically incapable Marines. Just as he raised his axe-hand, Luffy stepped in and blocked the incoming death blow. The useless Marines fled the scene into the base.

"Now, that's not nice," chided Luffy. "If you're going to punish someone, you're supposed to throw them off a cliff, not kill them! My grandpa says that makes them stronger and teaches them not to do it again. 'Cept _I _never learned."

"Imbecile. You must have hit your head one too many times—or maybe a lot more—when you were thrown. Most people would die if they fell from a tall height. Only special people would survive that, like Devil's Fruit users..." Morgan trailed off, looking speculatively at Luffy. "You have a Devil's Fruit power?" he asked.

Luffy beamed. "Yup! I got it when I was seven. Shanks brought it and I accidentally ate it. He said I shouldn't have."

Naruto snorted. "That wasn't on accident. It was on the bar table and you snatched it up and ate it. That was by choice."

Luffy waved a hand at him. "Same thing."

"Shanks? Akagami Shanks of the Red-Hair Pirates? One of the Yonko?" Morgan questioned in shock.

"Uh, yeah! Do you know him?" Luffy responded.

* * *

Grell was walking through the Marine compound, sulking. That brat always got in his way. So what if he had silky-soft hair, or cute paw pads, or an overall adorable kitten look? He was dressed in magnificent red clothes and had long tresses of crimson. He was the embodiment of the best color ever! So why was he overlooked for that cat brat? He sighed melodramatically as he opened the door to the rooftop.

_I guess it's time to get back to work… So a corrupt captain that doesn't do any right. Fix it no matter what… so get rid of him however you want…? Alright~ What is this? Oh..._

"Ugh, what a hideous statue. I'll… TEAR IT DOWN!" Grell laughed madly as he revved up his chainsaw and cut cleanly through the admittedly unappealing statue with ease—then he laughed some more. "Now, where is that idiot Morgan?"

* * *

_**R-r-rumble… CRRRAAAAAASH!**_

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto shouted out as the thunder-like rumbles ceased to an end.

"Oh, well I don't know. Maybe you should look behind you," Luffy suggested.

And Naruto did. He turned around and deadpanned at the sight of the crumbled and sliced stone statue of Axe-Hand Morgan.

"My beautiful statue!" Axe-hand turned around, looking at Naruto and Luffy, growling and gritting his teeth as he spat viciously, " You… DAMN… BAAASTAAARDSSS!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why would you accuse us?" Naruto gestured at Luffy and himself. "For all we know, it could have been _you_ destroying your statue of yourself to frame us!" he snapped indignantly.

"But why would he do that? It seems like he would kick our asses, judging how he looks like right now," Luffy pointed out.

"YOU DESTROYED MY STATUE! I'M GONNA KILL YOOOUUU!" screamed Morgan, raising his axe-hand, eager to chop them up and display their blood proudly on the ground.

"See? He looks like he's ready to… _eat_ us!" Luffy dramatically proclaimed.

"I think he has his morals… at least some. And one of them is _probably_ not to eat other people," Naruto said, blanching at the thought of Morgan actually eating them.

"Hello, honey~" a voice from overhead called. Just a second later, a red blur shot down from the roof and landed in between the duo and Morgan. "You've been a _bad_ boy, Morgan. Taking paychecks without adhering to the Marines' laws? Now that's just _naughty_. I've been given orders to get rid of you, but they didn't say how. I've decided to KILL YOU!" the red-swathed man raised an odd looking device that roared noisily.

"That looks awesome. What is that?" Luffy looked admiringly at the contraption.

"It''s a chainsaw, Luffy. You haven't seen one before?" Naruto took a side-glance at him, keeping the odd man in his main line of sight.

"Vice-Admiral Grell! Wait, I can explain!" Morgan tried to escape his death sentence.

"Why should I wait? I'm irritated because that stupid cat boy is taking all of my dear Sebastian's attention away from me and I haven't killed anyone in a while," Grell said, though he lowered his chainsaw.

"Hey, we were going to fight him! Get your own target," Luffy whined.

"He was my target first. He's the whole reason I came to this island… other than to stalk Sebastian."

"But I want to fight… He hurt and terrorized the villagers. So did his jerk of a son."

"Ah, fine. But if you lose, I get to kill all of you. Okay~? Hey, Morgan! Change of plans. If you can beat these two, I'll let you live, but you'll leave the Marines. If you lose and they don't kill you, I will. How's that?"

Morgan was relieved. He had a chance of living. It didn't matter if he was forced to leave his position in the Marines; pirating suited him more anyways. "Got it."

"Ah, and I was the one that broke that statue. It was sooo ugly."

Morgan's face turned red, but he said nothing in fear of drawing negative attention to himself.

Grell laughed and jumped to a high wall out of the way. "Okay, start fighting! I want to see some beautiful red blood! Paint the scene red!"

Naruto and Luffy poised in a fighting position, ready to jump out of the way of an attack. Naruto silently drew out a kunai, reminding himself that he shouldn't use his jutsus even _if_ it would save time.

Morgan took one look at the kunai and laughed, feeling confident that he would be able to kill the blondie.

But the blondie seemed to read his mind. He scoffed. "You shouldn't underestimate people Morgy-chan."

Morgan twitched in irritation.

However, he continued, "This kunai has killed many people back where I was from… This kunai can kill _you_."

He wasn't going to stand this. His pride was on the line. He raised his axe-hand and brought it down.

_**Shing~**_

He couldn't believe this! This… _monster_ easily deflected the attack with his "kunai". No, it must be the kunai—it must be a magical kunai. It couldn't have been the brat. But the idea seemed so ridiculous it seemed imposs—

_**Squelch!**_

He looked down. He saw his own blood pooling around him. The blonde brat was back in his original position in a blink of an eye, only holding a bloody kunai as difference.

"See? I told you, Morgy-chan," Naruto teased.

Morgan began to breathe heavily. He spoke in a strained voice, "Brat… what did you… do?"

But he simply smile as he turned to Luffy, signalling to finish him off. He hummed in reply. He swept his right arm on his left arm outwards, then there was twelve signs on his left arm.

_There's actually thirteen. One of them is just very faint,_ noted Naruto.

"_I call upon the twelve stars…_

_come forth,_

_Virgo!"_

A flash of light. The sound of an earthquake. Beside Luffy stood a maiden with short pinkish-purple hair and turquoise eyes. She was petite and wore what a maid would wear—just shorter. And for some reason she had shackles around her wrists.

"Whoa, Luffy. Didn't know you were the kind of guy that would imprison a lady!" exclaimed Naruto, obviously shocked.

"Virgo" turned to the direction where Naruto was standing. "I am Virgo, one of Luffy-sama's twelve Zodiacs," she said monotonously, bowing.

Naruto heard a sigh. It was Luffy. "I told you to call me just Luffy! I'm not your master or anything…" Luffy pouted.

"Who is that?! Wh-where did she come from?" Morgan wheezed.

"I guess I should tell you that I poured poison on my kunai," Naruto revealed.

He only got a growl in response.

"She already said who she is. You're not a very good listener, are you, Axey?" Luffy pointed out.

Morgan was tired. Tired enough to not care about the new nickname.

"Virgo, attack!"

* * *

"Thanks for the fight, Morgan! It was fun!" Luffy and Naruto gave a mocking salute as they turned and made their way back to the ship.

"Well, Morgan, it looks like I get to kill you after all." Grell's glasses flashed. The chainsaw caught a gleam of sunlight as it was swung down over Morgan's back.

An arc of glimmering red drops flew through the air.

* * *

Hiroki read the letter again.

_Hello. Over here, it's quite..._

_...have you been? For now I've gotten used to the new environment and I'm doing well, but recently my longing to see you has been growing more and more intense_

_and I can't help but laugh a bit wryly at myself._

_I want to see you. I pondered why exactly I felt so discontent, and I realized that _

_I don't feel any dissatisfaction about the classes at school here or the lifestyle, _

_it's just the simple fact that I can't see you that's making me so insecure._

_But I haven't even brought myself within sight of your back yet,_

_and I know that now isn't the time for complaining._

_I won't be mailing this letter now, but one day I would like to show it to you proudly, with dignity, _

_and to reach that day I will keep working as hard as I can._

_I have to admit something. Before I left Japan, I snuck a picture of you while you slept._

_I look at it every day. It's my sole support. I really do love your face when you sleep._

_I'm sure I'd get a punch in the face if you found out, so I'll keep it a secret._

_I've almost reached the bottom of the page, so I guess I'll end this for today. I'll write to you again._

_Hiro-san, I miss you. I miss you. I miss you, I miss you. I miss you. I miss you._

_I love you. I really, truly love you._

_I miss you._

_-Kusama Nowaki_

It soothed his hurt feelings of abandonment that he experienced for the year that Nowaki had up and vanished. It relieved him that he was not cast to the side as he originally thought, but that Nowaki had instead wished to join the Marines and needed the year of compulsory work to officially join the ranks. But in that one year, his friend Akihiko had visited his home island and witnessed his breakdown when he had thought Nowaki had left him. Akihiko was part of the pirate crew of Marukawa Shouten, Emerald Division, and had invited Hiroki to join to distract him from his pain. Hiroki had accepted.

Now, two years after Nowaki had left, Nowaki had tracked him down and explained his dreams and confusion of why Hiroki was not there when he returned. They had a conversation to clear away all misconceptions.

Nowaki had become a Captain in the span of two years. Hiroki was the commander of Marukawa Shouten, Ruby Division. Both could not leave their stations, yet neither wanted to separate. They were stuck in a dilemma.

Hiroki decided to take matters into his jurisdiction. Being a Marine was important for Nowaki, and he didn't want to take that away from him, but he did not want to leave his crew either. He concluded that he must leave without alerting Nowaki. Maybe later in the future one of them would turn sides, but for now they would be opposing each other. Each would be free to make his own choice without compulsion from the other.

The next morning, Hiroki packed up the year's worth of written letters and disappeared with his crew.

* * *

**Authoress: Aaand… end! *Clap, clap***

**Luffy: Whew!**

**Naruto: *Sigh* Why did I have to use nothing but a kunai? I need to use my chakra! I feel weak.**

**Authoress: Don't worry, you did enough… **_**you did enough.**_

**Luffy & Naruto: 0_0**

**Authoress: Bai~**

**P.S.**

**The letter part was yet again a direct part from Junjou Romantica.**


	6. Bye, Coby!

**Yo**

**Authoress: My sister said "Yo".**

**Luffy: Why?**

**Naruto: Oh, who knows? *grins evilly***

**Authoress: 0_0**

**Naruto: SHEDOESN'TOWNANYTHINGHERE,BYEEEEEE!**

**Luffy: *falls asleep***

**Authoress: Hey! I do so own something! The plot! Right, Luffy?**

**Luffy: … zzz…**

**Naruto: Hah!**

* * *

Coby felt weak. He was hidden behind a tree, but now Luffy and Naruto left before he could get his bearings back. How were

they so strong? Naruto made it seem like it was _nothing,_ but that was quite _something!_

Devil Fruits. Maybe Naruto ate one! Maybe… his Devil Fruit is speed! Apparently Luffy ate one and it was… something called Zodiacs. What are they? What were those symbols on his left arm? He would like to ask Luffy—if it wasn't any trouble, of course!

Coby took the girl's hand and escorted her back to town. The Marines were all either knocked out, killed, or in hiding, so they were not hindered on their way.

After dropping her off at the restaurant, Coby walked to the cliffside, discouraged. If all Marines were like them, then he didn't want to be a Marine anymore. Coby felt his dreams crumble into dust, a sense of emptiness ironically filling the void left behind.

He didn't know for how long he sat there, but eventually, he heard someone approach him from behind. He turned around and saw a kind-looking man in a Marine uniform smiling down at him. _Who is that?_ Coby wondered.

The benevolent man reached a hand down toward him in an offer to help him up. Coby took the large man's hand and stood.

"Hello. My name is Kusama Nowaki." The man smiled gently. "Why are you so sad?"

Coby sighed despondently. "I wanted to be a Marine, but after seeing what they were like, I don't want to be one anymore. It was my life's dream. I heard about them and thought it would be cool, but reality is very different from beliefs."

Nowaki frowned ever so slightly. "Well, you can't judge all of the Marines from just this island's. There are many Marines that protect the people from pirates and other unsavory criminals. The Marines here were under the control of a corrupt official. That's being changed now. Vice-Admiral Grell has already gotten rid of ex-Captain Morgan."

"Not all pirates are bad!" Coby protested, then, realizing his mistake, tried to retract what he said.

Nowaki laughed. "Oh, I know that not all pirates are the evil, plundering thieves that most Marines think they are. My Hiro-san became one about a year and a half ago, though I guess that was my fault. I left without telling him where I was going and he got lonely and worried. His friend ended up asking him to join the Marukawa Shouten, and he got into the Emerald Division with him. Now he's the commander of the Ruby Division. I'm very proud of him." He spoke with a beaming grin, his eyes reflecting joy. "We reunited just yesterday. He wasn't angry at me for leaving anymore. We… made up, quite enthusiastically."

"Why did you join the Marines, Kusama-san?" Coby asked curiously, his previous angst forgotten.

"Being a Marine was my dream, too. I wanted to make the world a safer place for my Hiro-san, and I thought this would be the best way to protect him."

"But he's a pirate now!"

"Yes, it's become a slight problem in my original plans. I've already made a change to my plans to accommodate this. Hiro-san already left the island. I know he doesn't want to force me to do anything, like leave the Marines, so he took care of the problem temporarily by going away on his own. It won't work forever, though. Eventually, we'll meet again, hopefully soon. I need to see Hiro-san. He can have his fun being a pirate. I can protect him from within the Marines by changing the status of the Marukawa Shouten from hostile to friendly, but I'll need a higher rank before I can do that."

"So you're going to stay in the Marines, he'll still be a pirate, and that'll work out?"

"Yes, hopefully. Hiro-san just needs to stay out of trouble for a while and I need to climb the ranks quickly. It's happened before with the Shwong Pirates. They were supported by the Tweety. It only works if the pirates have a clear record, though, but I know that the Marukawa Shouten is clear. I already checked them."

"Then I can help Luffy, too! I want to be a good Marine!"

Nowaki smiled encouragingly. "Just remember, it won't be as easy as you think. Training is tough and you need to adhere to all of the rules."

"I can do it. I'll become a highly ranked officer and get rid of all of the corrupt Marines. I can make a change for the better."

"That's a noble goal, Coby. Good luck."

* * *

Naruto stopped. He wondered. _I feel like I'm forgetting something…_

"Luffy, aren't we forgetting something?" Naruto asked.

No reply.

"Luffy?"

Naruto sighed. _Just where did he go? That idiot. Well, better look for him now._

* * *

Coby walked the path to the Marines base with a confident stride. He would be a good Marine. He would protect the weak. He would make the Marines better as a whole.

He entered the compound and was about to enter the building, but he noticed that the Marines not dead or comatose were lined up in the courtyard. A tall man was standing in front of them, facing them and giving what sounded like a lecture. Coby walked closer, the angle changing enough for him to see that it was…

"Kusama-san?"

The man stopped mid-sentence and turned to him. It _was _Kusama-san, but he had an angry countenance from dealing with the Marines that broke the oath to protect people in favor of themselves. Kusama-san's livid glare disappeared once he saw who approached him. "Ah! Hello, Coby. I was reprimanding the Marines we talked about earlier. Unfortunately, it seems that all of them except about three followed Morgan willingly. I'm going to have to report them, send them to the higher-ups, and train new recruits for this island. Oh, would you like to join, Coby? You can be the first recruit. It's going to be a lot of work, especially now that nearly the whole base will have to be trained."

* * *

Coby was now looking for Naruto and Luffy, as he had recently joined the Marines. He wanted to thank them for helping him escape from the fat prats and getting him to this island so that he could be a Marine.

_Where could Naruto and Luffy be? Well… Knowing Luffy, he's always hungry. Off to the restaurant I go…_

So Coby made his way to the restaurant closest to the docks and entered the establishment. There he saw that Luffy was indeed eating his heart out. That poptart cat from before was there as well. It was a bit odd that Luffy was not aiming to eat it, but it _was _still alive… and there was a replenishing supply of already-cooked meals set in front of him. That was probably it.

"Luffy? Where's Naruto?" Coby questioned.

"Mmmh-muh-rahsh-meh-shom-ur," mumbled Luffy.

"I'm right here," Naruto appeared behind Coby, startling him.

_So _that's_what I was forgetting. I forgot Coby from the Marine Base. Hmm... He doesn't look hurt. _thought Naruto, mentally smiling at the fact that his friend wasn't hurt.

"AAAH!—O-oh, Naruto!"

"Yes, yes, the Almighty Naruto is here," he said dramatically, rolling his eyes.

Luffy swallowed bowling ball-sized bolus, before pointing, "Naruto's right there!"

"Just how do you eat all that, Luffy?" Naruto questioned, looking at Luffy as if he was a new specimen.

Luffy stared at him blankly.

Naruto sighed, "Nevermind."

Coby looked between the two as they were conversing. He mustered up his courage—and hoping that Naruto and Luffy wouldn't shun him for being a new recruited—

"I-I'm going to be a M-Marine!" Coby yelled as his voice slightly quivered.

They stared at him with no expression—not of happiness, not of betrayal. He kept going.

"A-and I'm thankful that you both freed me! Of Alvida!" Coby realized that he was crying. He didn't even realized that he said "Alvida" out loud.

…

…

…

They smiled.

"I guess this is where we say goodbye, huh?" Naruto murmured softly, his eyes still as blue as ever, but had a tint of sadness left.

"Try your best—just not enough to catch us along the way! Shishishi!" Luffy's smile grew to an enormous grin.

Coby didn't care that he was crying. He was just so _happy—_so _glad!_

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said over and over.

_**Creeek!**_

"Alvida? You said _Alvida?_" There stood Commander Ripper, a Marine they had never encountered, at the doorway.

Coby stood frozen, unable to move. Then he stood straighter, more braver than he had been.

"Yes, I was held captive as a navigator in Alvida's crew," Coby said in his most serious Marine voice.

…

"I see. I'll have to report to Captain Kusama about this," Ripper said, turning to leave, but Nowaki stood at the doorway, behind Ripper.

"Did someone call me?" Captain Kusama asked.

"Hai, Captain Kusama! Apparently the-soon-to-be-recruit was part of Alvida's crew," he stated.

"Ah! I already knew that. I talked to Coby a little while earlier. He's kind in heart and has good intentions. His situation was circumstantial; he was forced into the crew."

"Oh."

"Yep! In fact, he's one of our newest recruits that I believe will go far," Nowaki cheerfully informed.

And with a bow, Commander Ripper left without saying anything.

"So, Coby, ready to start on the regime?"

Coby nodded.

Nowaki laid a heavy hand on Coby's shoulder and gave him a pat. "Well, then, say bye to your friends. We'll go back to the base and I'll show you what to do."

"Hai!" Coby turned to Naruto and Luffy, gave a small bow, and said his thanks again.

"I guess this is where we take our leave." Naruto smiled sappily, and they walked out.

* * *

It wasn't even a few minutes before Coby ran out and started waving frantically at the retreating boat. Marines started appearing and saluted to the _trio._

_Goodbye, Naruto. Goodbye, Luffy. Good luck on your journeys. May we meet again._

At this time, Zoro stirred from his slumber from the boat's uncomfortable floor.

"Wha—Are those _Marines_ saluting at _us?_" Zoro stared disbelievingly at the dock.

"Yes. Yes, they are," nodded Naruto sagely.

"Ah~ I'm hungry!" Luffy shouted.

* * *

Peace. Calm waves tug at the boat, leading it which way and that.

_**Gggrooowl~**_

Until Luffy spoke.

"Ah~ I'm so hungry!" he whined.

"How are you hungry?! What I've heard from Naruto, you ate _mountains_ of food! And that was only at the _end! _Besides, we have apples," Zoro pointed out.

Luffy whined.

"He wants meat. Oh, speak of the bird-devil," Naruto grinned and pointed at a large—and did he say large?—seagull, seemingly heading towards land.

An island.

However, no one quite cared. They wanted the meat.

Slurping up his drool, Luffy swiped his right arm over his left, showing the thirteen symbols on his arm and murmured in excitement,

_I call upon the twelve stars..._

_Come forth,_

_Sagittarius!_

A flash of light. The sound of a million arrows being shot in the sky.

* * *

**Authoress: Ooh! Gotta love them cliff-hangers!**

**Luffy: I'm hungry.**

**Naruto: You ate in this chapter!**

**Authoress: *rolls eyes* Some things never change.**


End file.
